


Cry for help

by Elisexyz



Series: Slow dancing in a burning room [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Gen, Neverland, No Dark Curse AU, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: “I mean, I thought Pan didn’t—wantgirls. Why didn’t he send you back?”
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy & Emma Swan, Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan
Series: Slow dancing in a burning room [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553932
Comments: 14
Kudos: 27
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Cry for help

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the "Locked in a cage" prompt [on my Bad Things Happen Bingo card on Tumblr](https://heytheredeann.tumblr.com/post/189295263304/locked-in-a-cage-fill-for-the-bad-things-happen).  
>    
>  Well, this has been sitting half-finished in my pc for a while, I'm surprised it's finally done XD It's set in the same verse as the other one-shot in this series, but it technically comes first, so you don't need to have read the other one. The premise is a Wish!verse-like AU in which Regina was defeated and the curse never happened, so Emma was raised by her parents in the Enchanted Forest. Then, she gets kidnapped by the Shadow and she ends up in Neverland.

_Alright, stop crying. Be brave_ , Emma tells herself, sniffling and quickly wiping away the tears that can’t seem to stop pouring out of her eyes.

Her parents are the heroes that defeated the Evil Queen, come _on_ , she can do this. It’s in her blood, she can deal with this, she can get herself out—

Except she can’t seem to get the cage to give in, she’s been abandoned in the middle of plants and trees on some island god knows where, and even if she started screaming herself hoarse for help there is no one coming: the inhabitants of the island, all boys more or less her age and only a few visibly older – as far as she has seen, at least –, are the ones who did this to her, and her parents are horribly far away, judging by how long the way there was.

Maybe they’ll find her, though. Isn’t it what they always say? That they are family, and they always find each other?

Nevertheless, in the meantime she is stuck in that small cage, knees on the ground and tears pushing behind her eyes once again.

What if they leave her there to die? What if this is what the rest of her life will look like?

Maybe it’s just a matter of ransom. Maybe they just want something from her parents, and they are using her as a bargaining chip. Maybe it will all be over before she knows it.

She blinks, and a boy comes out of nowhere, quickly approaching her. Emma, out of instinct, uses what little space the cage allows her to retreat.

“What are you doing?” she asks, trying to mask the tremor in her voice. If the idea of staying trapped there forever is terrifying, at the very least the bars offer some protection from whatever these people may want from her.

“I’m getting you out,” he announces, anxiously glancing around before he starts beating on the cage with a rock in an attempt at getting it to open. “Just sit back and keep an eye out for any Lost Boys, alright?”

Emma hesitates, because he is a boy just like all the others, who’s to say that he isn’t trying to _trick_ her, for god knows what reason? But she doesn’t have many options laid out in front of her, and he does seem to be working on breaking her free from her cage, so she swallows, offering a shaky nod even as he isn’t looking, and she starts looking around, trying to see through the shadows between the trees.

It brings her back to when she was little, staring through the window at tree branches that in the darkness seemed shaped like monsters, except this time there _is_ real danger to spot.

Her heart throbs in her throat the whole time, until the boy gives one last hit to the cage, which falls open.

“Yes!” he breathes out, grinning from ear to ear. He extends his hand for her to take. “Come on, we have to go before they notice!”

Emma decides to take a leap of faith in the same breath as she moves forward.

The boy runs and runs, Emma following closely behind him, thankful for all the time she’s spent running around in the woods nearby her home, because now she can easily keep up. He turns around every now and then, checking that she is still following, or maybe trying to see if someone else is running behind them.

(Emma keeps checking too, because the thought doesn’t seem to want to leave her alone.)

“This way,” the boy instructs, gesturing for her to follow as he takes a sharp turn to the right. He eventually enters what looks like a cave, and Emma, not at all at ease with the way the trees seem to be looming over her, like they want to _eat_ her, doesn’t hesitate to follow.

“We’ve made it,” he comments, letting out a sigh of relief as his lips twist into a smile.

Emma spares a moment to look around, noticing the drawings on the walls, something that looks like a poorly made nest and a few items scattered around, but her attention is soon back on the boy. “Thank you,” she has to say, because he _saved_ her, after all. “Who are you?”

“Baelfire,” he introduces himself. “Or Bae. Most people call me Bae.”

She smiles a little, because he seems somehow shy about it. “My name is Emma.”

He acknowledges her with a nod, then he draws in a sharp breath, unceremoniously sitting on the ground and crossing his legs. Emma soon imitates him.

“So,” Baelfire begins, giving her a onceover. “You are a girl.”

She frowns. “And?”

He shrugs. “I mean, I thought Pan didn’t— _want_ girls. Why didn’t he send you back?”

“If this ‘Pan’ is the king here, I don’t see why he’d send me back after he took me,” she points out, trying not to sound too rude in spite of the stupid question. “I certainly didn’t _ask_ for this.”

Baelfire appears to be a little confused at that. “You didn’t want to come here?”

“Why _would_ I?” Why would anyone, really? “I was taken from my home. Maybe they want something from my parents. I’m a princess, you know?”

“A _princess_?” he echoes, curiously. “I’ve never met a princess before.” He stares at her thoughtfully, not saying anything else.

She shifts uncomfortably under his curious gaze, wondering for a moment if she should have kept quiet about who she is, if he might change his mind and bring her back to the other boys. “Where are we?” she quickly asks, in an attempt at distracting the both of them. 

“It’s called Neverland,” he explains, after a beat. “It’s, uh, an island. Peter Pan is in charge, and there are other boys—no one grows up here. I guess that’s why lots of kids think it’d be fun to come.”

“But?” she prompts, given his dark tone.

“But you can’t ever leave, so—” He trials off, shrugging.

“Of course we can leave!” she protests, so forcefully that he seems a little startled. “If we can’t find our own way, then my parents will come and help.”

Baelfire smiles a little, though it somehow seems sad. “Maybe,” he concedes, sounding more sincere than she would have expected. “I wouldn’t go out looking for ways to escape, though,” he adds then, gesturing with his head to the exit to the cave. “Pan won’t be happy if he catches you.”

Thinking back to her terror while she was trapped in that cage, she has to agree that it may be best not to get out. She nods. “How long have you been here?” she asks then.

He glances at something behind her, and, turning around, she notices an appalling multitude of tally marks.

“A while,” he mutters. It sounds tired. “I’ve stopped counting at some point.”

“Why?” she asks, a note of fear in her voice, because she can guess the answer, and in his defeated behaviour she fears she is only seeing what will eventually become of her, should her parents for some reason fail to come.

“It kinda seemed pointless. No one is coming for me.”

She forcibly tears her eyes off the wall, turning towards Baelfire instead. He looks so sad that it tears her heart in two. “Don’t you have parents?” she asks, softly.

“They died,” he only says, quickly, like he wants to get it out before it bites his tongue.

Emma doesn’t think she has ever met a boy quite as lonely and sad.

“Well, my parents are coming,” she remarks, her tone firm. “And you can come with us too, you’ll see.”

He looks quite surprised at that, staring at her like she just began yelling profanities.

“There’s plenty of room in our castle, they’ll be happy to have you,” she continues then, with confidence. She sees the hint of a smile twisting his lips, and that only builds more enthusiasm up inside her.

She takes a quick look around, her eyes landing on a rock that looks sharp enough to do the trick.

“In the meantime—” she says, quickly picking it up and showing it triumphantly. “—we are going to go back to counting. And we’ll take care of each other until we can escape this place. Deal?”

He stares at her for a few moments, disbelief all over his face and a tiny smile making its way through it, but eventually he nods. “Okay,” he says, his smile widening. “Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates comments, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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